CL&P Kicks Off Initial Work on Interstate Reliability Project

Mar 24, 2014

With final federal and Connecticut regulatory approvals secured, Connecticut Light & Power will soon begin preparation work on its portion of the Interstate Reliability Project, a collaborative effort with National Grid that will improve electric reliability in Connecticut and southern New England. In the coming weeks, the company will begin clearing the right-of-way and creating access roads to lay the groundwork for the project.

Part of a group of transmission projects called the New England East-West Solution (NEEWS), the Interstate Reliability Project is designed to improve the delivery of electricity across Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. Once complete, the new lines will provide the region’s electricity customers with the infrastructure that is critical to a healthy economy, as well as access to cleaner, competitively-priced energy sources.

“The Interstate Reliability Project continues CL&P’s strong track record of investment to ensure a robust regional electric grid,” said Laurie Foley, Vice President of Transmission Projects, Engineering & Maintenance for Northeast Utilities, parent company of CL&P. “We continue to connect customers to reliable, cost-effective energy and support continued economic growth in Connecticut and New England, an effort that we have been very successful at since 2005.”

The Interstate Reliability Project will also bring much-needed economic benefits to all three southern New England states by creating hundreds of new local jobs and generating significant new property tax revenue to towns along the project route.

The Connecticut portion of the project, which will be constructed by CL&P, includes the construction of a new overhead 345-kV transmission line on 37 mi of existing right-of-way through 11 towns from Lebanon to the Rhode Island border in Thompson and has an estimated cost of approximately $218 million. The project also includes upgrades to stations in Lebanon and Killingly.

The Rhode Island and Massachusetts portions of the new transmission line, which will be constructed by National Grid, will extend approximately 38 mi through National Grid’s service areas, and work is expected to begin later this year. The Interstate Reliability Project is expected to be in-service by December 31, 2015.